6/8/25

I have no real idea of how important the envoy I met with actually is. The Madorra were comparatively private and also distant, as befits the source of their nobility; keeping old forts at the edges of the king’s lands in service. Their attention to me, before, was likely as something of a footnote. An incubus apprentice to a moderately well known mage of low political engagement compared to his master.

Said master was not particularly strongly politically engaged in non-magical matters, so we both may as well have been political non-entities for their choices.

Now, though, I think we will be both much more interesting just for the possible pay out our little trading idea can give them. Everything else? Extremely important to the ones that will get the goods or sell them with and for us, but less important to the Madorra as investors.

They don’t have the capacity to be too much more than that in these days, but I can only wonder what a complete reversal of decades of loss would do for them. In two generations will they become less private and nearer to a half-dozen places? Will they have eclipsed their old status and become equal of the king and the dukes of ages past? Or will all this money amount to nothing but an extension of their time as ignorable importants?

I wish I knew enough of court politics to actually be able to say. Of course, the envoy was suitably impressed by everything we deigned to share. It’s near impossible to not be impressed by the fruits of a world that is so far ahead. I can only assume what kind of orders the Madorra will put in just for themselves.

Which is why I only made a few small purchases of non-perishables. Mineral water. Normal water. Some preserved foods. Master will have to go back and use some of the money to make purchases to sell here, but that was almost an unspoken given. Almost. I made sure to discuss it a few times during her time here and also try and set up things to be more comfortable here now that we have a stable enough way between the two worlds. Yes, the apartment is spacious, but it’s a bit less than ideally outfitted with creature comforts in one particular area that is made up by everything else. But when you can manage to correct that one, nagging, infinitesimal flaw with (hopefully) just a small amount of the initial funds coming in, you do that for your partner.

Especially as it’s already being accounted for in our initial ledger.

6/9/25

I realized that in yesterday’s entry I had a notable lack of mention about the contract I signed. Good.

Less good is the first day of the factory being back up to full production and finding out that I’m going to have to meet face to face with the scion of the Madorra that I’m to be substituting for. The first means an end to the recent-ish decision of spending my days deliberately ignoring the news about demons as much as possible. And doubly ignoring any urges to write about them while I was ‘resting’ on superior orders.

I think I even decided to not write about those orders because I have to assume there are fears of mental contamination and that somebody has found out how to get demon out of my writing, at least.

In any case, it was likely that this order had its origins in the shadowy council of leaders. They didn’t seem to have any answer to all the previous secret magic messages, but that’s not necessarily bad.

I’m just hoping I don’t get to ‘negotiate’ tomorrow or the day after. I’m very cynical what this sudden reactivation may mean.

6/10/25

No negotiations. No attacks. Still on high-alert, though.

6/11/25

New demon type today. Write more when I get to have break.

6/13/25

For a normal attacker, a surge of this size would have been a death or glory last push. All three portals opened for as long as they could manage, spires if present or active were targeted first, and it was an impressive number at each portal. Hundreds, possibly even thousands. But it was not a doomed last push, even with the fighting to the end that did great damage around all three portals.

I fear it is a declaration of escalation. A last attempt to gain a success before moving on to things they consider damaging to their goals.

I am very worried, seeing as I don’t currently have a partner. The army is nice, but can’t hold the bigger demons at all. They’re also going to die quickly when a stronger demon is present and using their demonic powers and I’m not there to do rough countering with either knight armor.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I can only pray for a suspiciously well timed new addition to the team with an equally suspiciously well timed new knight armor. I wouldn’t even mind the implication that I may be working for people that have sold out to the demons for some absurd bit of demonic politics.

Or that they’ve been leaked some demonic plans because some sadistic fool wants to make a great show of finally, utterly crushing the defenders that slew a thousand demons before. I like the second idea much more than the first, but I think we’ll need to plan for both.

Oh, and the new demon type. The people here are calling it a Sower. I can see the strategy being used, but never heard of any demon using it before. When they create chaos or great fear in the mortals they face, demons savor it like a good drink of liquor or tobacco. It is a thing to be enjoyed as long as possible, not be taken advantage of as quickly as possible to destroy a foe.

Obviously, it can be guessed what the Sower did once the army had panicked.

The incidental anti-demon features in my Chevalier were wonderful in this case. I couldn’t stop the fear in its track, but I could stop the supernatural spread of it to others. I also have a sore ass because of how much I had to run around and got bounced around.

There is debate on if the demons that bounced me around were a new type of demon, or just Knight Openers modified to try and more directly kill the pilot with every strike. The first case would be a danger to all pilots, the second actually would increase our safety.

Multiple Point Harnesses, anti-crash features, and all that, you see. Bouncing a pilot around would take so long to kill that pilot that the armor would be destroyed twice over in all but the unluckiest of cases.

6/14/25

As it turns out, the envoy was quite important; the very daughter of the Madorra I was to serve as contraceptive for. I was not wholly sure why the deception was so important to her that only drinking with my master ended up bringing things out into the open, but for the sake of the contract and the expanded funding it would bring, I asked nothing.

Master, although quite hung over, asked enough ribald and personal questions for four people. If this may have influenced my decision is a thing I leave for later generations to ponder. I have more treating to do as well as presenting more in-depth plans now that we have something of an available purse and goods to trade with.

This world has, as far as I know, no true and absolute cure for a hangover. It does have some easily available medicine that helps with a hangover, as well as enough folk cures to keep Master occupied for ages.

The aspirin was far better for the Lady Madorra and she has purchased a large supply of them right from us at an even better price (barely) than we were going to offer the Madorra. The first two bottles were already used, so we just had to apply a discount. She also felt that we should be giving everyone a larger discount on goods, but we had a ready answer if that was more than just post-negotiation grumbling.

With the aid the Madorra are going to give us, if we can buy large amounts of jewelry and other well made goods, we will be able to have three green houses in under as many years. One for the Madorra exclusively, powered by the sun, one to sell to the king, powered by oil, and one for us to experiment with; it may, possibly, one day, end up powered by magic itself. Until then, it is likely to also be solar.

Ah, the joys of a Sunday without an attack. I had three opportunities to write in this day. Now if only I had three things I wanted to write about. I only had two and a time to rest that I only discovered after a few moments of thinking what was going to follow the first sentence.

6/15/25

I got a partner, but no new knight armor to go with. This probably has to do with Master Alissa’s completely hidden status. Officially, it is an attempt to automate that will likely have a suspiciously well timed failure that eliminates the prototype while master goes and enjoys her adult status and pay.

But the advantage of another armor in the field is not to be understated now that I’m expecting stronger demons. And master’s use of better technique and skill should make the anti-demon features and the heart of the knight armor.

We only need to get her to be inside of the thing instead of showing off and commanding the golem from its shoulder. A nearby building would be better, but I think she’d object on the grounds of being less dramatic. She still thinks of a demon fight as this dramatic last stand, despite it all.

Or perhaps somebody has let her into the wine, or she’s attempting to secure her life after the prototype is made to explode or whatever end is going to be given to it.

There are many possible answers, and I will do my best to keep myself blinded to them. If I do not know, then I can not possibly reveal the answer by accident.

Classes have been quite disrupted and even now nobody is quite sure how things will go, especially as attacks have happened again. The demons have given, by accident or by foreknowledge, a great degree of credence to the propaganda that the shadowy council has given to the world.

IT has been a while and I’m doing this entry on the longer kind of post-it, so just in case, I’ll write that down. If I’m not too tired, I’ll search to see if I need to put the propaganda in again. But it’s ‘the aliens wish us to be limited servants of theirs. Not enough power to be a threat.’

If I get more time, I’ll get the exact words.

Demon attack during practice. No new words to write.

Strange trickery abounds. Will need to write more tomorrow because I need to go over it with my now sleeping master. Still, want to get down first impressions. Unusual teleportation? Something like that, yes. Success came for them from bad landing. Ha ha ha. More report tomorrow.

6/16/25

The Lady Madorra was quite impressed at how the two knight armors dealt with a pair of apparently mid-ranking demons. Especially how we prevented them from using their world warping magics to destroy the city or drag more demons in without the usual gate problems.

That she was still here was a small surprised, but in my defense, I was quite distracted with keeping up the facade of a good student and also fighting in the Chevalier.

It got modified, so it looks like the Chevalier Ciel and some new unit will be what I command unless the ruination of the prototype is going to leave me with Natal again. But until then, it will be Ciel and something new.

Also I conferred with master Alissa and she thinks that my first impression was essentially right. She put in some additional riders, and thoughts on why, but it can be boiled down to this. It’s likely that this was a measure added to allow for more continuous assaults on the three cities as it drags some of their portal-energy with them.

Thankfully, they’re also going to get more accurate, which should lead to fewer accidental aquatic assaults like their victory yesterday. It also means being able to keep better track of them, and not having to do searches.

Only two of the demon groups got found. One had partial escape from the air forces sent after them. I can only hope that they’re no more successful than the last free demon.